


Harry Potter and the Temple of the Ascendant

by NocturnalEmissary



Series: Harry Potter and the Fractal Keys [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Culture - Iain M. Banks
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Space Opera, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25767604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturnalEmissary/pseuds/NocturnalEmissary
Summary: An exploration of the 'The Culture finds Harry before the Dursleys do' premise established in an old unfinished crossover fic that I will not name/shame, but without the uncomfortable self-inserted sexual mores of that piece's author. I'm not going to pretend that the Culture isn't different, this is just not a story where I intend to explore the differences, or eroticism of any kind.About a year after the traumatic deaths of their parents at the hands of Professor Quirrell, Harry and Hermione take their first steps toward exploring the possibility of magic *elsewhere* in the galaxy. Escorted by the VFP Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated and a renowned Culture Archaeologist they visit a massive temple nestled deep in the dense forests of an ancient jungle world, whose previous inhabitants are thought to have sublimed.As they explore the immense ruins left behind they begin to unravel the mystery of the world's missing civilization and its connection to the elusive force that all witches and wizards are able to channel.
Series: Harry Potter and the Fractal Keys [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869316
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. On the Origin of Groupies

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second-ever attempt I made at writing a story, though it has been tidied up considerably since then. The first story I did, like the story it was trying to conclude/improve, was too messy and self-indulgent to salvage. Due less to unnecessary sexual content and power creep, and more to a general lack of relevance to the remainder of the plot of the series I wanted to write. If you've ever considered the wisdom of skipping the Phantom Menace when planning to watch all of the Star Wars movies together in a marathon you will understand in a general sense what I mean. 
> 
> Beyond setting the stage for this and the rest of the 'Fractal Keys' stories, its only real source of appeal is reliving a portion of Harry's first year with a different cosmetic bundle applied. Since I killed everyone's parents and blew up Professor Quirrell at Christmastime, it's a small portion.
> 
> Because I've scrapped the "prequels", I will put a brief recap of the events of the unnamed forebear and 'Harry Potter and the Blue-Green Marble' here to set the stage:
> 
> \- The Culture Ship 'Arbitrary' and its Contact crew are visiting Earth during the First Wizarding War and witness the destruction of the Dark Lord in Godric's Hollow  
> \- Harry is raised by Diziet Sma as a Culture Citizen, aware of his magic but far away from Earth  
> \- Harry receives his invitation to Hogwarts, and agrees to go learn more about his home and his magical gifts  
> \- Harry befriends a great deal of Hogwarts' first year, and starts an interhouse learning collective (because study group sounds so *unimaginative*) which subsequently develops a magical instant-messenger device that looks and functions similarly to Riddle's diary, just easily destroyed and without a murderous soul-fragment trapped inside  
> \- Diziet Sma and the ship's Mind establish the Vavatch Organization in Magical Britain as a foothold for the Culture's agents on Earth, with the general goal of improving the quality of life for wizards in Britain and abroad wherever possible  
> \- Professor Quirrell is driven mad by his connection to the Dark Lord, and attempts to kill Harry over the Christmas break. Because Harry is skiing in the Alps with Hermione's family, she becomes a peripheral target  
> \- Diziet Sma and the adult Grangers are slain irrevocably, without hope of resurrection or revention  
> \- Quirrell is defeated, at great cost to Harry's roster of Culture allies  
> \- Harry and Hermione and a single Very Fast Picket ship eventually leave Earth, taking a large cache of magical items, books and potion brewing ingredients
> 
> The story makes a few assumptions about magic:  
> \- Magical attenuation affects most forms of technology, with the degree of interference being proportional to both the saturation of nearby magic and the complexity of the system suffering attenuation  
> \- Drones and Minds are vulnerable to this. Minds are better able to resist, but fail more spectacularly when they are overcome. The sudden depositing of a large fraction of a Mind's hyperspatial mass into the armoured tub of its brain tends to do that  
> \- For the vast majority of magical items and byproducts their distance from Earth does not cause their potency to fade. They *will* decay/degrade over time as usual, though many *can* be preserved in a stasis field  
> \- Avada Kedavra kills the being it is directed at. Magic doesn't respect the distinction between a person and their mind-states or backups, it can reach across the infinite void of space to annihilate every trace of the being you direct it at, provided you do so with hate in your heart. An old mind-state who has gone on to live their own life is sufficiently different to avoid Magic's notice. It doesn't matter if you're a mouse or a Culture Mind.
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read all that up above, I promise that despite its unwieldiness it is preferable to slogging through my 'year one' piece and in my opinion its progenitor piece as well.
> 
> Thanks for reading all that down below as well, I hope you enjoy!

-o0o-

  


_We have arrived_ the ship chimed over their laces. Harry nearly dropped a carbon stirring rod into his cauldron, flicking on a stasis field to preserve the brew as he hurried out of the sterile lab. Hermione squeaked excitedly and deactivated the 3D hologlyphics chamber, twisting catlike to land on her feet as gravity returned to the empty space and the bright artificial symbol she was sculpting dissolved into scattered photons. They met at the area they jokingly referred to as the bridge, a comfortable observation deck the ship had added high up on its anterior surface.

Hermione gasped as they drew closer to the orbital, Dmeith. They were coming in on a shallow angle to its rotational axis, giving a close-up view of the back of the nearest plates which contrasted sharply with the colourful 'internal' surfaces that stretched away towards the other side. It was an _old_ orbital, its circumference nearly filled to completion with a diverse array of ecosystems. Hermione's gaze quickly flitted from one to the next, taking in soaring mountain ranges, dense vibrant jungles, frigid tundras and shining sandy beaches.

She had seen images and video of orbitals before, read about their every detail and experienced a number of virtual tours of some of the most famous ones. As in all things she had been thorough and exacting. She found their philosophy of minimal waste for the maximal space to be satisfying in a responsible sort of way. She thought their burial practice of displacement into the system's sun to be particularly beautiful.

All of this had prepared her for that first shining sight, but did little to diminish its ability to take her breath away.

They slipped into a port on the back of the plate housing the largest city on the orbital. A short trip through a series of bays led them towards the ship's resting place for their stay on Dmeith. She marveled at the bustle of the access bays, watching everything from single person craft darting about to an entire massive GSV lumbering down one of the main corridors. She grabbed Harry's wrist as she peeked into a side bay containing a truly alien looking ship.

"Oh what is _that_? I haven't seen it in any of the materials the ship provided me!"

Harry shrugged, unsure.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it isn't pan-human. That geometry is giving me a headache."

"Harry, I'm disappointed. You know this one." the ship chimed. "It is a Volvax trade-hedron. Diziet was sent on a mission aboard one of these when you were 7 years old. I'm viewing a feed of the departure and you're clearly waving goodbye."

Harry smiled sadly as he thought of his mother.

"Forgive me if it didn't jump to the front of my mind. She left me with her friend Perspasia, and I think I spent the next 400 days straight at various parties and functions."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What do they look like? I'd love to see the being that designs a ship like _that_."

"They are not a pretty race by human standards, people commonly find them very upsetting to behold." _Slow and Steady..._ warned.

"I'm 12, thank you very much. Even if they're a little unpleasant I'm not exactly going to need a _night light_ afterwards."

The ship conjured a hologram in the middle of the bridge to gasps from Harry and Hermione, who all of a sudden wished she hadn't pushed the issue.

  


-o0o-

  


They were greeted by a small delegation from the orbital. One of the hub's perfect androgynous avatars, a smattering of pan-humans of various ages, and one prim little drone with an ornate casing. Hermione was still learning to read drone aura-fields in real time and said as much, to which the drone cheerily replied that it could use tone of voice to effectively demonstrate the same information.

The lone child with the delegation, somewhere between 5 and 7 Terran years old by the look of it, piped up at this.

"Excuse me, but how come you don't know aura fields? You look _older_ than me."

Before Harry could speak on her behalf, Hermione replied.

"I wasn't born or raised in the Culture. In fact, it's all very new to me. I bet there are a _lot_ of things you know that I don't.

She smiled conspiratorially at the child. Its eyes went wide.

"Oh! Well if nobody else has done it yet, it would be my honour to welcome you. I might be biased, but I think it's the _best_ place in the galaxy to grow up.

Hermione nodded, a graciously solemn expression on her face.

"I think you just might be right. Thank you very much, I'm glad to be so welcomed."

The child gave a satisfied smile and bowed gracefully, before receding into the ranks of the greeting party to hold its mother's skirt.

Each member of the delegation offered a broad overview of some facet of life aboard Dmeith, expanding upon the already informative briefing packet that _Slow and Steady..._ had loaded on to their laces. The orbital was an important travel hub, with a greater ratio of temporary residents to permanent inhabitants than the Culture's average by a significant margin. Naturally, this made it a hot spot for the Contact section and its various specialist branches.

Hermione still knew little of Contact other than that it was seen as one of the true tests of mettle in the Culture to be asked into the service. She knew someday she would either seek it out or be sought, but there was so much for her to learn that it had taken a distant backseat to more pressing concerns.

As a nearly completed orbital, Dmeith also had a very broad range of potential habitats for its residents, which made it very appealing to those with short attention spans or nomadic tendencies. Particularly travel-averse citizens could spend their entire lives exploring new places and never leave the star system. This lead to two very different populations inhabiting the structure. Informally they were referred to as 'homers' and 'leavers', though both groups tried to avoid labels. The leavers tended to congregate around the plates with urban centres, while the homers gravitated towards the more rural ecosystems.

They learned that their delegation mostly failed to fit into either category. Generally its members didn't _mind_ exploring the stars, but always made their way back home. A few considered themselves homers, including one who claimed to be one of the few inhabitants of the tundra plate Hermione had spotted on the way in.

The reason they had come to Dmeith was one of the leavers.

  


-o0o-

  


x _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized)  
o _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo]):  
Separate from my prior-broadcasted greeting package, I have a request for you, hub.

x _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo])  
o _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized):  
Ooooh! Something too juicy for a public broadcast, I simply must presume?

x _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized)  
o _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo]):  
To presume makes a pres out of _u_ and _me_.

x _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo])  
o _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized):  
. . . 

x _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized)  
o _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo]):  
Sorry, stupid joke. Makes sense in a language from the last world I visited. It _probably_ isn't juicy, and if it _is_ then explaining why _may_ infringe upon the desire for privacy of a certain Culture citizen whose whereabouts I'm about to ask for.

x _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo])  
o _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized):  
. . . and my telling you their whereabouts _doesn't_ infringe?

x _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized)  
o _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo]):  
There are plenty of perfectly reasonable excuses to be looking for them. They're a minor celebrity, at least in certain academic circles.

x _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo])  
o _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized):  
I have _brilliantly_ deduced that _your_ excuse for seeking them is none of those.

x _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized)  
o _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo]):  
Yes, but if I tell you why you're going to think it's _stupid_ , and if I tell you why _I_ don't think it's stupid then it will be infringing on the privacy of two _other_ citizens who have asked me to pretty pretty please try as hard as I can not to.

x _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo])  
o _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized):  
. . . Is this an SC thing?

x _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized)  
o _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo]):  
It _started_ as a Contact thing, but that went to the hells in a hurry. _Now_ it's more of a 'for the two orphans I'm safeguarding' thing.

x _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo])  
o _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Killer Class-Demilitarized):  
Well you can just go ahead and add the Eccentric tag to your nameplate now, old boy. Who's this minor academic celebrity you're looking for, then?

x _Slow and Steady are Criminally Overrated_ (VFP, Eccentric, Killer Class-Demilitarized)  
o _Dmeith_ (Orbital Hub, Hamidien system, [solo]):  
Happy now? We're looking for someone named Ganimglam-Cadronoas Mridiclisch Hrinirillin Heillerach dam Greilstone who _should_ be here for the big academic conference in Savishtheiten. If not registered for the conference he'll likely be on the manifest for the GSV _Rather Pleased that You Bothered to Ask At All_.

  


-o0o-

  


Hrinirillin Heillerach was a Culture archaeologist and traveler. His exploits were as exciting as they were varied, and more than a few songs, books and movies were dedicated to or inspired by one of his adventures. Harry and Hermione had tried consuming some of the media but found it leaned more towards entertaining than informative. They _did_ carefully read many of his papers on ancient civilizations and responsible exploration, finding the man much more professional and diligent than the campy action hero portrayal that seemed common to the stories. One of the movies had the gall to arm him with a _whip_ of all things, painting it as a versatile tool rather than a crude torture implement. Thankfully none of the papers contained any mention of whips.

He was currently on Dmeith attending a conference of archaeologists, paleontologists and logiopologists. Following the closing celebration tonight he would be departing for a sabbatical cruise to the other side of the galaxy. _Slow and Steady..._ was considerably slower than the GSV taking him to his point of embarkation, so they had to find him quickly or risk a lengthy journey to some point of interception with the cruise itself.

The conference was being held in the university district of Savishtheiten City. With all of the industry contained under the surface of the plate and no commerce to speak of, academics were typically the main driver of urban development on Dmeith. Despite hundreds of methods of high-fidelity communication, there was still something to be said for bursting into a colleague's physical office to excitedly proclaim some new development or theory. Remote communications meant that research and personnel could be as distributed as necessary, but over time the labs and lecture halls began to congregate together organically. 

Hermione traveled in a daze, hardly able to parse the firehose of information as she passed countless signs and advertisements for celebrated speakers. She had to disable the AR feature on her lace, the digital distractions overlaying reality proving an impossible test for her focus.

They arrived in time to watch the final lecture, but learned that Hrin had already left for an afterevent. Further questioning revealed that it was an exclusive party on a plateau the next plate over, and access was invite only. Hermione began fiddling with her terminal, but quickly slumped her shoulders in resignation. Harry just grinned at her.

"I have an idea, hold my hands and stay very still for a moment."

Hermione heard a crack, and her senses were filled with the sights, smells and sounds of a roaring party. Harry was looking around smugly, though the effort of moving them had clearly cost him.

"Alright, let's start searching. You remember what he looks like?"

"Yes, hopefully he hasn't changed his looks much lately."

"From what I've read he might be a bit egotistical for that."

"We shouldn't gossip about him Harry, if everything goes right we'll be working with this man."

"Good point, let's get going."

Hermione pointedly ignored most of the debauchery around them. Based on what she knew about the Culture it was presumably harmless fun, but it seemed to be an unfortunate combination of tasteless and distracting to her evolving sensibilities. Occasionally they came across some spectacle or another that necessitated dragging a reluctant Harry away.

They found him with a group of female admirers, sequestered away in a corner of one of the bubble-fielded dance floors. This one was playing high-energy dance music that grated at the children's ears. Pupils dilated, he cocked an eyebrow at them as they approached.

"Hrinirillin Heillerach?"

"Hey kids, I'm very flattered that you came all this way to see me. Really. I mean I don't even know how you got up here. Impressive."

He shook his head briefly.

"It's just that I'm indisposed at the moment by some very dear friends," at this he smiled over his shoulder at the ladies behind him, "and it would be so rude of me to prioritize your time over theirs."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"We need to speak to you about something."

"Look, if you give me your names I'd be happy to have the hub Mind send you some autographed effects in the morning." 

Hermione looked at him in disbelief.

"About the trip you took 8 years ago."

"I take a lot of trips. I'm taking one tomorrow in fact. I took a bunch that year."

"The one where you _died_. The one that caused you to go on this wild, endless sabbatical in the first place."

He looked away furtively, suddenly struggling to meet her gaze.

"You went looking for _magic_ , and you didn't come back."

His eyes went wide for a moment, and then he put a hand on the back of his head.

"I'm not sure where you heard about that, but it's nothing kid. I went on an expedition, I forgot to back up, and slipped and hit my head on a rock or something. I woke up missing a few months of memories, I can't even remember where I went."

"You went to [Khajronen-Uninhabited-Restricted-1919], and you had unavoidable nightmares every time you tried to plan a return trip to retrieve your equipment. The yacht you traveled on was never found."

His face went white.

"OK now I _really_ don't know where you heard that."

"The Culture keeps no secrets, Hrinirillin."

"Well then you'll understand that I don't want to talk about it."

"What if we told you _we_ were magic?"

"I'd say you're spending a little too much time in VR. Come on, don't you have another adult you can bug with pretend?"

Hermione sneered at the man and turned to Harry.

"Harry?"

Harry looked put upon for a moment and then stepped forward and grabbed the man. With a crack they disappeared, and reappeared again a moment later.

"Damn it kid, don't go fucking displacing people like that! I don't want my atoms spread across the fucking dance floor like confetti."

Hermione suppressed a snicker, but immediately flooded with guilt when she saw how pale and exhausted Harry looked.

"Oh Harry I didn't realize it was so draining for you! I'm so sorry to ask that of you!"

Harry waved a hand reassuringly, but the way it trembled belied his discomfort.

"My fault, took him back to where we jumped from. Should have picked a location on this plate, like the other side of the party."

Now it was Hrin's turn to stare in disbelief.

"Wait _you_ did that? On your own?"

Harry nodded weakly.

"Holy hells kid! Where did you learn how to do that?"

Hermione stepped in on Harry's behalf.

"With a great deal of practice. Come with us and we can show you more. A _lot_ more. But we need to return to [Khajronen-Uninhabited-Restricted-1919]."

Hrin appeared hesitant, looking over his shoulder at the scantily clad fans draped around his booth.

"Oh for goodness' sake! Just-"

Hermione consulted her lace for a moment.

"-there. The hub has stored mind-states of those women - with their permission - with whom you can rendezvous once we start to bore you."

Hrin exhaled sharply.

"You don't let up, do you little lady? Don't lose that fire, it'll serve you well."

Hermione swelled with pride, having half expected to be called bossy.

"Alright, you've got a couple of hours to sell me."

It took all of 15 minutes with _Slow and Steady..._ 's library of magical texts to convince Hrin to cancel his trip.


	2. The Colours of Spells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm afraid to summarize too precisely because I don't want to give it away before reading. I'll try and get the hang of this as I go along. This is a glimpse into the preparations our team of intrepid explorers are undergoing to ready themselves for their expedition to [Khajronen-Uninhabited-Restricted-1919].

-o0o-

"We're _sure_ that this is safe?"

"Yes Hrin, we've done this plenty of times since we left Earth."

"It just seems... too much like tempting fate. Your magic messes with the systems that are supposed to _keep us alive_."

Harry put on his most reassuring tone of voice.

"The ship put enough air in here that even if we break the life support we have plenty of time to wait for it to rescue us. The emergency suits it built for us don't have a scrap of electronics in them, and even the regulators on the air tanks are purely mechanical. We could put a hole in the side of the rock, which neither of us are strong enough to do, and _still_ wait hours for the ship. Retrieving us from in here should only take it a minute to do, anyway."

They had dropped out of hyperspace to grant Harry and Hermione an opportunity to work on their actual spellcasting. They had a vast magical library to work their way through, and it was worth delaying their journey for a few circadian cycles once in a while to put theory into practice.

That meant finding a star system or other blemish on interstellar space to hang around in, as the ship had little desire to outfit a fleet of asteroids with hyperspace engines and tow them around with it. The children needed a safe place to hone their skills, and none of its prediction matrices said good things about the worst-case scenarios invited by having them do so within its holds. Little cantrips and trivial spells were one thing, causing an odd sort of tickle in its dazzling array of senses, but it did not want to know what would happen when magic caused fatal errors in part of its drives or power plant. Heaven forbid part of its _brain_ mass be sucked out of hyperspace to try and occupy yet more of the already-crowded silver ellipsoid at the heart of the ship.

Once a suitable lump of nondescript rock was found, the Mind would scoop out its inside to make room for the chambers that its charges made use of for everything from potions-brewing to dueling.

It was the dueling that Hrin was worried about.

Fed up with his hesitation, Hermione interjected.

"Listen you big baby, it's perfectly safe. We've been doing this for months and never _once_ blown one of these up. If you'd prefer you can go hide aboard the ship, but it isn't able to capture particularly high-resolution recordings if we _really_ let loose. I thought you wanted to see this."

He held up his hands in capitulation.

"Alright, alright. If one of you turns me into an amphibian I'm going to be _furious_."

Hermione gave him a pointed look. She turned to Harry.

His wand was already coming up, mischievous grin on his face.

_"Expelliarmus!"_

__

__

A look of betrayal had time to mar Hermione's features before her wand was thrown from her fingertips. In her off hand a backup slipped from a sleeve holster into her grasp.

_"Accio wand!"_

In the course of their previous duels the children had determined that used wands, while less responsive and effective at channeling their magic, were still incredibly useful for maintaining crude shielding charms and other utility functions. They had since begun a regimen of hand-eye training and were now effectively ambidextrous. Harry, for all his Culture-fostered metacognition skills, currently held a slight edge at the sort of parallell task management required to keep two spells going.

As her wand sailed back to her through the air Hermione threw up a hasty _protego_ in time to deflect Harry's barked curse. Her attempt to disarm him in reply was directed away from him with the flick of his wrist.

Hrin stared open-mouthed. He'd seen prettier light shows before - on one of his digs a Gzilt colleague's defender arbite had gone toe-to-toe with the jury-rigged security system the dead facility's insane AI caretaker had dreamt up - but it was astounding to think that every joule of energy the kids were throwing at each other was coming from their _own interactions with the grid_. No wonder the Minds involved had worked so hard to keep Harry's secret for him all these years.

As the two mages danced and weaved through the gorgeous rock formations the ship had sculpted into the duel space Hrin tried to appreciate the strategies they were devising and deploying. Blazing, ethereal lights glimmered on polished stone and refracted off of the faceted interiors of partially-exposed crystal complexes, mesmerizing the muggle. He'd already read enough of the _Slow and Steady..._ 's magical library to catch most of the spells being cast, but his nonmagical nature caused the thoughts to slip through his grasp before his mind could properly appreciate them.

In hindsight it would prove to be the first point at which the archaeologist should have realized he might be in over his head a litte.

" _Expelliarmus!_ "

Harry's tactic of choice was to apply constant pressure with the threat of disarmament. Letting up your shields for even a moment against him could mean going down a wand and needing to forego either attack or defense until the balance was restored. Far from being predictable, the boy had real talent for finding creative ways of putting Hermione off-balance to keep her from falling into a rhythm.

" _Petrificus totalus!_ "

" _Speculo!_ "

The young witch, conversely, was like like fighting water. She drifted and flowed around Harry's stream of charms and hexes with languid movements. She was impossible to pin in one place for longer than a moment, and her uncanny memory extended to spell interactions. For every curse Harry threw at her, she seemed to know the ideal counterspell or most efficient shield to deal with it.

 _She's going to tire him out,_ the archaeologist mused as the boy leapt athletically up on to a raised surface to pour jinxes down into a prismatic shield his counterpart had raised. Hrin's eyes ached as a kaleidoscopic torrent of spells flowed down the sides of the shield like rain on glass. Their Culture-enhanced physiology and singleminded training gave them an endurance that - if the literature he'd immersed himself in was any indication - would dwarf that of their Earthly peers. Magical exhaustion _was_ still a thing, however, and in Harry's eagerness to win the boy seemed to have forgotten to pace himself.

The realization seemed to strike Harry, as well, and Hrin could hear the exertion in the wizard's voice as he slowed the stream of hexes and charms. He took a risk, stepping down on to the shield's slippery surface. _Prismatis_ was a broad-spectrum shield that could protect the caster from thrown rocks, deadly hexes and everything in between, so long as they had the strength to spare.

Hermione snarled at the added strain of Harry's weight, but before it could bear her down to the ground she was dispelling her shield.

" _Flipendo,_ " she cried, and Harry was launched towards the roof. He hit it with a grunt, and both of his wands tumbled from his grasp.

_"Wingardium leviosa!"_

Gently, she lowered her fellow duelist to the ground. Harry groaned as he raised himself up to a sitting position.

"Serves you right for trying to ambush me, Harry. Are you alright?"

"Fine, thanks. I _did_ get you pretty good there, nice job recovering so smoothly. You're going to have to teach me some of those defensive progressions after we recover, it felt like you were just brushing off _everything_ I threw at you."

"Far from it, until you started to tire you had me soundly on the back foot. I might have cast a handful of offensive spells the entire time. Thanks, though. Stepping on the shield was clever, but opened you up too much. Next time kick a rock over on me or something instead."

The boy clapped a palm to his forehead.

"Of course! Once I realized how tired I was getting I wanted to try and sap your reserves to even the gap. Otherwise once I lost pressure I probably wouldn't have been able to get it back."

"Well, we _were_ trying to put on a bit of a show for Hrin. I bet it made for quite a finish. What _did_ you think, Hrin? Glad you didn't run off to the ship?"

The archaeologist chuckled.

"You aren't going to let me live that one down, are you kid? It was great, _you_ two were great! How often do you two get a chance to do this?"

Hermione smiled proudly as Harry answered.

"Maybe a few tens of times. Enough that we're starting to get a feel for it. Sometimes we consult with the ship to identify ways that we're falling into patterns. We don't want to end up needing our magic some time and then failing because our foe does things a bit differently than our usual sparring partner."

Hrin nodded.

"Smart. I noticed you two are dipping into the third and fourth year curriculums for some of those spells, are you sure it isn't dangerous?"

Harry shrugged, and Hermione cut in.

"Maybe a little, but we aren't casting anything strong enough to burn out our life force. The ship can nurse us back to health even if we _really_ exhaust ourselves. We haven't started working on healing magic yet - except for some simple potions - even though we both think it's going to be one of the more valuable things we can learn, because that _does_ have the potential to really hurt us if it gets out of control."

Then Harry continued

"That said, we _are_ going to need to rest for a few hours before we get back to practicing any more magic. Even potions-brewing costs us energy, albeit not very much. It gives us lots of time to read and theorycraft, so it's hard to feel _too_ inconvenienced."

"Busy busy. I suppose, as my academic advisor used to say, 'The biggest difference between good students and poor ones is the discovery of a subject worth obsessing over.'"

Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"Obviously _they_ never had to teach anyone within the framework of mandatory public schooling."

This earned a hearty laugh from the archaeologist.

"No, you're right, kid. They most certainly did _not_."

-o0o-

They sat together at a rough stone table that was more natural feature than furniture, perched on slablike benches with their feet in a furrough dug into the rock by the ship. They could easily have eaten separately, at their own workstations, but _Slow and Steady..._ felt that group socialization was essential in the scant hours of leisure-time its three passengers allowed themselves.

"I mean really, gills?" Hermione said, before taking another bite of steaming food and closing her eyes briefly to savour the taste. More than a year on from learning about the existence of the Culture, and she was _still_ getting used to how impossibly _good_ their dazzling array of food and drinks were.

"It isn't _that_ strange." Harry said, rather more oblivious to the culinary fireworks at the end of his utensil.

"He isn't wrong, Hermione. I didn't ask for them for _every_ expedition, but they come in handy more often than you'd expect."

"The Temple of the Ascendant is supposed to be _hundreds_ of metres above the canopy at its highest point!"

"Yeah, and it could be hundreds _below_ ground at its lowest, we don't know _what_ it's like on the inside."

"Hrin's right, Hermione. One trapdoor into a flooded chamber and you'll wish you'd dealt with the itchy jowls for a few weeks. Come on, it's not even the most extensive mod the ship wants to give us. We're going to look _pretty different_ by the time we arrive in-system. It's one of the ones most likely to save your life."

Hrin nodded emphatically.

"I know _I'll_ be more comfortable if we all have them."

She pondered this. If she thought about it, it _was_ following a professor's advice, in a roundabout way.

"The ship can put us back the way we were when it's all over with?"

Hrin nodded.

"You bet, kid. So completely that you'll feel weird _without_ all the mods, for a little while."

She made a face.

"I doubt _that_ very much."

Harry shrugged.

"Some are fun to keep and some are a nuisance. I'm excited to see the ship's replacement for gelfields, it said it's fairly sure it has devised a solution that will be 100% immune to magical interference."

"I'm sure that's even more exciting for you two, but that will make the next time we do _this_ much less anxiety-inducing for me."

Hermione laughed.

"Are you always this big a baby, or are you letting your guard down because we're children?"

Hrin snorted.

"Kid, I don't think you'd let me if I tried."

-o0o-

"What gives, ship? You're never this secretive."

"Well Harry, as I'm sure you and Hermione have noticed, this little 'practice stop' has been twice as long as they usually are."

"Now that you mention it, yes. We were a little busy with the learning and the sparring and so on to have made proper note of it, I suppose."

"Indeed. You've all been rather absorbed in your work. Nobody has bothered to check how close to the destination we are in _weeks_." 

Harry rolled his eyes.

"So, ship, how close to the destination are we?"

"I'm glad you asked! We're only a few light-weeks away.

"That's what, a couple of hours in hyperspace?" Hrin interjected.

"Less than, if I was really pushing myself," the ship said knowingly. "Unfortunately, as a precaution against magical interference, I won't be taking you any further _personally_."

"The way you said that makes me think you're about to address the specifics of how you're going to handle the issue _impersonally_."

"Right you are, Harry. I have a surprise for you all. Follow me."

The ship's cephalopoid avatar cartwheeled away, swinging from the runged tracks that _Slow and Steady..._ had sculpted into the roof for its use. Now fully used to this sort of thing, the trio of explorers set off after it without comment.

It took them to the facility's shuttle bay, right up to the invisible field holding in all of their air. With a rugged tentacle it gestured out into the darkness of space.

Hermione gasped. Hrin whistled in appreciation, and Harry grunted in agreement.

Perhaps a quarter of a kilometre distant, gleaming brightly, was a resplendent lightsail yacht.

"Wait, are _you_ making it glow like that?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I am," the ship admitted smugly through its avatar. "The effect is rather lost if I don't conjure _some_ sort of light source to bathe it in."

"It's a damn fine ship. A fair sight larger than the tub I was planning to ride down to the surface the _last_ time I came."

"I know. There's a reason for that, actually. To prevent a repeat of your prior expedition's fate I've really outdone myself on building in redundancies and trying to disaster-proof the craft. _If_ we need to contend with magical attenuation, this ship will barely lose any functionality at all."

"You sound very confident in that."

"We can pilot it to the destination _by eye_ if we need to. It shouldn't be necessary, but all the instruments to do so are in there and purely-mechanical and calibrated very specifically for our course to K19."

"Not much of a pleasure craft if we need to sail the damn thing ourselves, is it?"

The avatar chuckled wetly.

"No indeed. It has everything it needs to fly itself as well, Hrin. Even if all the electronics go, I can take care of the helm and leave the three of you to your preparations."

Hermione was unable to contain herself.

"It's _beautiful_. When do we depart?"

The avatar shook its tentacles in its version of a smile.

"It is ready now, I was too excited to show you to wait until departure. I have a few more modifications to implant in you all, and the gelfield replacement will require a fairly intensive cocktail of retrovirals to work their magic before you can properly interface with them. Give it another week or so."

Harry looked satisfied.

"Plenty of time to finish the current batch of medicinal potions. Hrin, you can run us through a refresher on the specifics of safe exploration. I'm sure Hermione has the relevant lectures memorized word for word, but _I_ could stand to benefit from a solid reiteration."

Hermione shot him a wry grin.

"Thanks Harry, but I agree. That _would_ be nice."

The archaeologist feigned bashfulness.

"Gee, I'm flattered you two. I'm surprised Hermione didn't try to get a dig in there."

She shrugged.

"Everything I've read on fostering teamwork and positive relationships says to mix praise in _with_ the teasing or it's no better than bullying."

Harry couldn't quite suppress a laugh.

"Of _course_."

"And besides, when he isn't being frightened by magic he _is_ very sharp, for an old man."

Even the avatar joined in the laughter then.

-o0o-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading, everyone. 
> 
> If you haven't noticed, I'm stealing a lot of my ideas about the inner workings of magic from Eliezer Yudkowsky's incredibly-well-written HPMoR fanfiction. I'm not trying to steal it in its complete form, but it seems like it allows for a lot of creative freedom for how the children use their magic whilst having some very reasonable limits. I won't tell you to go out and read it if you haven't already, because I don't think it will give you any special insight into things that I don't hope to simply show you through my own prose at some point. I did rather enjoy it, though, and it's large and complete, so if you find yourself hungry for a well written story that aspired to tie all its potential loose ends I don't think I have many better suggestions, certainly none that are free.
> 
> The pace on this piece is going to be relatively slow, but I have another series I've been posting to reddit that will be concluding soon, so it should speed up at least a little bit on this end. I appreciate you all sticking around thus far.


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